Senate Bill Would Expand Copyright Protection

Law360 (June 23, 2004, 12:00 AM EDT) -- A new Senate bill with broad bipartisan support would expand copyright protection to outlaw popular online file-trading networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus.

The Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act, which was made public Wednesday, would make "whoever intentionally induces any violation" of copyright law liable for those violations, a prohibition that would effectively ban file-swapping networks.

File-sharing software allows users to trade music, video and other software files. Kazaa, the largest of the networks, claims more than 30 million users who have downloaded more than 1...